Speculation in the Church
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Most Biblical Prophecy has a warning. When you read through the Old Testament, you see the warnings of the Prophets to both the Kings and the people of Israel. When you read the Prophecies of Jesus and the Apostle Paul, they were given as warnings.
Warnings were a part of the nature of the Scripture, as 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed (inspired) and profitable for teaching, rebuking (reproof), correcting, and training in righteousness.” The reproof and correcting of Scripture are a part of the nature of warnings … turn yourself around or you will suffer the consequences of your actions.
So, when I bring up how speculation is a monster problem in the Church, it probably doesn’t sound like Prophecy, but it does follow the pattern of correction. Speculation is defined as, conjecture, theorizing, hypothesizing, supposition, guesswork, and opinion. Often, speculation is heard through the position of a doctrine, or a tradition of a Church or denomination. There are Churches that are known for their Prophecies, or their position on the Rapture of the Church, their doctrines of Election, Hyper Grace, and prosperity … all come with a good amount of speculation. I posted a Facebook post recently on this issue of speculation:
Some ideas preached in the Church today are not God’s truth … these ideas are speculation. God never changes, but we like to assist Him by adding to His Words. God is always at work drawing people to Himself. He draws us, but He does not choose for us. Our choice to be a believer is dependent on His mercy. He owes us nothing but has given us everything in Christ. However, no speculation is fact … it simply takes a stab at what we think is in God’s mind, and we conclude we have it right. In other words, we fill in the spaces God left blank. Those blank spaces are not to be filled with our speculation, but filled with our faith and trust in Him. It must be clearly stated in Scripture, and if not, it isn’t supposed to be there. ~Larry Kutzler, Facebook Post
Speculation is Widespread
When I was in Seminary, I was taught that we should not build a doctrine from one verse in the Bible, there needs to be more of a pattern of that truth before we enshrine it into a doctrine we follow. I have made a statement in the past that stated, “I believe speculation is at the heart of much of what we believe.” Now, I don’t mind when a pastor gives their opinion by saying, “What I am about to share is speculation, it is not proven to be found in any Bible text.” The pastor then is delineating between their opinion and the Word of God. Some will say things like, “Many of the gifts of the Holy Spirit have ceased, and the gifts of Prophets and Apostles are no longer needed.” There is no evidence in the Bible for that statement and people who use it are speculating.
Why This Topic?
I have witnessed how people add to the Scriptures what they have experienced, or what they think God has said to them. Some things may have a value to an experience, but it should never be incorporated into the Church as a teaching. Jesus addresses adding to the Word of God or taking away from the Word of God in Revelation 22. Speculation isn’t a gift of the Spirit … it is an opinion, and not truth. Beware of anyone who teaches anything that cannot be verified by testing it against God’s Word.
Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler